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Mikel Obi says ‘bye-bye’ to Super Eagles, “It’s time for me to retire”
Nigerian international footballer, Kanu Nwankwo has praised the Governor of Anambra State, Willie Obiano for taking good care of the pioneer set of footballers of Rangers International Football Club of Enugu, most of who are old and ailing.
Speaking during a courtesy visit on the governor in Aguleri, Kanu said he was overjoyed to hear that governor Obiano had shown great compassion to the pioneer set of Rangers players who had played with so much determination to restore the pride of Ndigbo after the Civil War.
“No other governor in Nigeria has shown so much appreciation to aging footballers who had brought joy to our people with their gifts when they were young. There are old and ailing footballers across the country but no one cares about them. But governor Obiano has done well by showing that deserve care and love” declared the former African Footballer of the year and Olympic Gold Medalist.
Kanu who expressed profound gratitude to governor Obiano for showing kindness to the aged footballers further said, “I urge other governors to emulate governor Obiano. He has shown a worthy example of what our leaders should do to encourage our sportsmen and women to give their best in service of the people.”
Kanu also praised governor Obiano’s impressive achievements in Anambra State and declared “I am proud of him.”
Governor Wille Obiano, Kanu Nwankwo, Governor’s wife
The former International revealed that he had been friends with the governor from his days in the banking profession and expressed satisfaction that government had not let his friends and admirers down and had gone ahead to surpass their expectations with an impressive performance.
It is a fact known to many that since he assumed office as governor of Anambra State, Governor Obiano has placed all the pioneer players of Rangers International FC on a monthly welfare package and has been picking up their medical bills.
The ex-international presented a Super Eagles Jersey as a token of his appreciation to the governor saying “he deserves the No 1 jersey for his excellent performance as a governor.”
Over the past two years, the Minnesota Vikings have added five players to their roster with a Nigerian background.
Some were born in the United States; one left his parents behind in search of a better life, hoping that athletics would either lead to better education or perhaps a professional career in sports.
They are all young, athletic and proud of their heritage, believing that an upbringing stressing the value of a strong work ethic led them to their successes to date.
“I think it’s just upbringing. You come from a bunch of, like you’re just son of immigrants and just have a chip on the shoulder,” said second-year defensive end Ifeadi Odenigbo.
“And this is just a sample: My parents, they grew up Nigerian born or raised and they came from a very, very strict household and kind of what they’ve seen – when they get to here, just being black is hard, just from a standpoint of the challenges you have to deal with.”
“Then, adding the whole culture side of things and not knowing that, so our parents just always told us, ‘Hey, man, when in doubt, when things are getting harder, there’s nothing wrong with working hard.’ So they kind of instilled that in our school work – just work hard, work hard, work hard. They were never really big supporters of sports.”
In addition to drafting Ifeadi in the seventh round of the 2018 NFL Draft, the Vikings selected another defensive end Ade Aruna, in the sixth round that year, then added tackle Olisaemeka Udoh in the sixth round this year and receiver Olabisi Johnson in the seventh round, and finally signed Ifeadi’s brother, Tito Odenigbo, as an undrafted rookie.
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